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Dump and Start Instant Pot Creamy Ziti is saucy, cheesy and delicious. 20 minutes is all you need to make this creamy red sauce pasta dish!
Don’t have an Instant Pot yet? StoveTop Creamy Ziti Recipe is here!! Check it out!
Dump and Start Instant Pot Creamy Ziti is a favorite at my house! I’ll be honest, it totally reminds me of Olive Garden’s Five Cheese Ziti dish. AKA the only thing I ever get while visiting Olive Garden.
Also, every single person in my family enjoys this for dinner. That right there is a miracle, people. If you have kids, were a kid a some point or haven’t been living under a rock you’ll know that is nearly impossible.
I love how this pasta dish pairs nicely with all sorts of sides to make it a meal, you could do a garden salad, garlic bread or even a crisp Fruit and Vegetable Salad. Whatever you serve it up with, your family will love it!
How to Make Creamy Ziti
‘Dump and Start’ are a funny combination of words to be on my favorite word list.. but it’s there alright. This dish is so easy! Dump and Start easy. If you like dump and start recipes as much as I do, check out Top 25 Instant Pot Dump and Start Recipes.
Broth, cream, garlic, s&p and pasta go into the Instant Pot. Make sure that the pasta is covered with liquid.
Pressure cook for 6 minutes, NPR for 6 minutes and then QR the rest of the pressure. The sauce will be very liquidy, totally normal.
Turn the Instant Pot onto sauté, then in goes some red pasta sauce.
Slowly add in the parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. This will thicken the sauce nicely for you. Once the sauce has thickened, turn the Instant Pot off and serve immediately.
See, I told you it was easy.
Don’t have an Instant Pot yet? HAVE NO FEAR!! One Pot Creamy Ziti Recipe is here!! Check it out!
Looking for a lighter version?? Try my SKINNY CREAMY ZITI!
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Dump and Start Instant Pot Creamy Ziti
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp minced garlic, dried
- salt and pepper to taste
- 8 oz dry ziti pasta
- 1 cup red pasta sauce
- 1 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Add the broth, cream, garlic, salt, pepper and noodles to the instant pot in that order. DO NOT STIR, but make sure all noodles are covered. If you need to move some noodles around, thats okay.
- Set your Instant Pot to Manual for 6 minutes. Let it naturally release its pressure for an additional 6 minutes then quick release.
- Add the red pasta sauce to the Instant Pot and give it a stir.
- SLOWLY add in the cheese while stirring. The cheese will melt and thicken the sauce. The sauce will also thicken as it cools.
- Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Dump and Start Instant Pot Creamy Ziti
Dump and Start Instant Pot Creamy Ziti is saucy, cheesy and delicious. 20 minutes is all you need to make this creamy red sauce pasta dish!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp minced garlic dried
- salt and pepper to taste
- 8 oz dry ziti pasta
- 1 cup red pasta sauce
- 1 cup parmesan cheese shredded
- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
Instructions
- Add the broth, cream, garlic, salt, pepper and noodles to the instant pot in that order. DO NOT STIR, but make sure all noodles are covered. If you need to move some noodles around, thats okay.
- Set your Instant Pot to Manual for 6 minutes. Let it naturally release its pressure for an additional 6 minutes then quick release.
- Add the red pasta sauce to the Instant Pot and give it a stir.
- SLOWLY add in the cheese while stirring. The cheese will melt and thicken the sauce. The sauce will also thicken as it cools.
- Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
This is a very saucy dish- If you like yours with less sauce, just cut back on the red pasta sauce at the end.
Serve alongside some Oven Roasted Broccoli!
I made this for dinner….well mostly. I had to substitute a few ingredients. I used bow tie pasta because that is what I had, and I added more cheese because who doesn’t love cheese! And I added hamburger too to give it a little more umph for the Fam. It was great! And so quick and easy. Perfect for a busy night meal.
So glad you loved it, Rebecca! Thanks for commenting!
I used pizza sauce instead of pasta sauce because it’s thicker than pasta sauce. I am so happy to see that this can be doubled bc I was sad when there were no leftovers.
Pizza sauce is a great idea!! Thanks for the tip! Happy to hear you’ll be making it again. ❤️
I need to 4 times this dish. Will I be ok with the same cooking time or will I need to add time?
Hi Sherrie! Sounds like you are having a party! Do you have an 8 qt Instant Pot? If so, you should be fine! I would actually suggest to cut the time down by a minute or two since the Pot will take longer to come to pressure. Does that make sense? If you have a 6 qt, I would suggest making two batches, keeping the first warm in the oven while the second cooks.?
Can I use rigatoni instead of ziti? I’ve been to two stores and neither one had ziti
Yes! That should work fine. ? check re package and cook for half the suggested cook time. Hope this helps!
I actually prefer rigatoni!
I’ve made this dish several times. My family loves it. It is great as is but we’ve also added cooked Italian sausage and/or spinach…you know…tho make it healthier. 😉
So happy to hear you love the dish!! Those sound like great add-ins!
Love how easy, fast, and tasty this meal is. It is very convenient because I can get all the ingredients from the Dollar Store right down the road. I doubled the recipe my first time making it (I’ve made it twice) and was worried because I realized I only had 1 jar of spaghetti sauce, but it was still perfect! I think I may try adding chicken next time. This is my new go-to meal when we are short on time!
This is always a go-to at our house too! Glad you loved it, Lauren! ?
I tried to read through the comments to see if I’m the only one…there are so many comments, lol. I ended up with a giant clump of cheese (I added it slowly and stirred my guts out!), Sauce, and noodles. *Sigh* I keep stirring and stirring and it is just all stringy and sticking to the spoon. If it’s supposed to be like that, then I #nailedit lol.
Hi Tara- try turning the Instant Pot onto Saute to reheat the sauce and cheese. Stop stirring while it heats up and starts bubbling, then give it a stir again. Your red sauce may have cooled things down a tad too much. Give that a shot. ?
I made this for the first time last night. It was awesome. Thanks! I did make 2 substitutions We used whole wheat pasta, and since I didn’t have any cream, we swapped the cream for evaporated milk (a cupboard staple). It came out just as creamy without the added calories. I used the original 1 cup as recommended and as the dish thickened up I used the remaining bit that was left in the can to thin it down. We will definitely be making again!
Hi Mark!! So glad you enjoyed my recipe! Swapping evaporated milk is a great way to cut calories- good thinking! Thanks for stopping by! ❤️
I was functioning on mommy brain with a hungry toddler after work and just threw all the ingredients in the pot (used water because I didn’t have enough broth on hand and used half and half because it was all I had). Took out my sons and then added red crushed pepper to ours. I did forget about it when it was done, so it natural released for like 10- 12 min which is fine for us because we like our pasta a little soft its easy for my 2 year old to eat.
Everyone LOVED it! My son asked for more and my husband who rarely eats pasta (because he is all about healthy eating) has been asking me to make it again!
So I am making it again when some friends come over for dinner Sunday.
Also I stirred my ingredients, I have noticed a lot of instant pot recipes say that. Why does it matter, is it to prevent ingredients from sticking?
Thank you for this delicious recipe!
Hi there! I’m so glad this was a success for you!!
Layering is very important when working with the Instant Pot. You’ll always want the thin liquid closest to the bottom, that way it can boil, create steam and then seal the pot and bring it to pressure. Also, there are several ingredients that are prone to burning (such as bbq sauce or red pasta sauce) that shouldn’t be on the bottom because the burn notice will come on and the food won’t be cooked! I hope this helps a little! Let me know if you have more questions. I’m happy to answer. ?
I would like to try this recipe, but I’m allergic to cheese. Should I decrease the amount of broth to one cup or enough to cover the pasta so there’s not so much liquid left at the end? Thank you in advance for your thoughts on this.
I would decrease the amount of broth until it is just covering the pasta. Then add the red pasta sauce sparingly until it is the consistency you like. 🙂 Hope you love it!